His Hatred, My Passion
by Bookwormlovesharrypotter
Summary: We never intended this to happen. We never intended to hurt him. We never intended this to go on for so long. If we had been thinking straight, none of this would have ever happened. We never thought about how much pain he would go through. At least, I never intended or thought about any of this. I was too busy cheating on my boyfriend.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH HARRY POTTER. ALL I HAVE IS SEVEN BOOK AND EIGHT MOVIES.**

* * *

Prologue

We never intended this to happen.

And even if we did, we didn't want it to up like this.

We never intended to hurt him.

His trust was more important to us than anything else.

We never intended this to go on for so long.

It should have been a one night stand.

We never thought about what was a stake.

If we had been thinking straight, none of this would have ever happened.

We never thought about what the consequences were.

This was never supposed to happen in the first place.

We never thought about how much pain he would go through.

Hurting him was the worst thing imaginable.

At least, I never intended or thought about any of this.

I was too busy cheating on my boyfriend.

_He_ might have.

If _he_ had, _he_ didn't tell me.

If _he_ had any regrets, _he_ didn't tell me either.

If _he_ had told me, we might have ended this months before.

But, _he_ didn't.

_He_ didn't tell me anything.

It might have ended differently if _he_ had talked to me.

But, _he_ didn't talk to me about it.

I had to learn to live will the hatred and regret I felt.

And I'm sure that he had to as well.

After all, James Potter was his best friend.

* * *

**~Hello. Some of you might reconize this story. I had it posted before, but decided to take it down and change things. I have decided to go a new way with it, so I had to change a lot of things in the chapters. So, hopefully, you like if, even if you haven't read the first one. Don't worry, you aren't missing anything. I have about five or six chapters written, so I will be updated frequently. **

**This is the shortest chapter ever. And I mean ever. Most of the chapters will range from about 1,500 to 2,000 words. So, it won't be a really hard read that will take a long time. I am also looking for a beta reader for this story, so if you are interested, please contact me. Please review as well. Peace Out!~**


	2. Alice and Frank's News

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY PART OF HARRY POTTER, NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINKS.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Alice and Frank's News**

"Lily, could you hand me my bag. I need to get some money out of it," James Potter, my boyfriend and Head Boy, said. Looking at him blankly, he added, "It's right next to you."

Sure enough, I looked down and saw his brown bag on the seat next to me. Why he put it there, I'll never know. He was sitting on the opposite and of the compartment talking to Remus. Picking it up and tossing it to him, I asked, "Why do you need money? The food trolley isn't going to be here for a while." We did, after all, just get on the train.

James groaned at me. Rolling his eyes, he responded, "Don't ask. I don't want to suffer the embarrassment." Of course, after he said this, I had to ask him why. He just sat there with his head down and pulled out ten Galleons. Then, he gave them to Remus.

"Here you go, _mate_," he said sarcastically. "If you were really my friend, I wouldn't have to pay you."

Remus just shook his head and laughed. "If I didn't make you pay, then I would be in violation of the Marauders Code. Rule 53 clearly states that if any of us make a bet, we have to go all the way through with it. No backing out half way."

James was banging his head against the window. "Why did Sirius and I ever have to make that rule? Stupid fifth year selves. Why were we such idiots back then?"

Remus jokingly replied, "You two were just too full of yourselves back then. You never thought that you would ever lose a bet. Even though I did tell you that you might regret it when you were older and had come to your senses more, you didn't listen to me."

I just sat there, listening to their conversation, feeling uncomfortable. I still wasn't all that comfortable with their useless babble all the time. I had, after all, only agreed to go out with James at the end of last year. After ignoring them for six year, I found it hard not to roll my eyes at their dumb conversations. If you could even call them conversations. Yesterday, James and I were all hanging out together at his house when Peter came up to me and had shouted, "Pineapple," and then had promptly run away. Cue the rolling of the eyes. I don't think that I will ever get used to them. They were always full of surprises.

I smiled remembering that day. James had prepared a romantic lunch for me in the middle of the maze that he had in his backyard. Honestly, what boy do you know how would do that? James was really sweet to me. I don't know why I hadn't gone out with him before that end of last year. With me, he was a prefect gentleman. Then, I remembered why I hadn't said yes to his constant proposals yet. He used to be a gigantic git with hair that enjoyed laughing at other people's expense. I hope I have changed him since last year during the time in the summer I had been over at his house.

Last year, once his big gigantic head of his had shrunk, due to the loss of the Quidditch final, he had seemed down. He wasn't pranking anyone like he usually did. I wasn't used to the quietness of Hogwarts without him. Though I thought that I would enjoy the peace and quiet, I found out that I didn't. Without James planning any pranks, the Marauders were pretty quiet at the end of the year. Missing James, I had gone up to talk to him and had ended up snogging him. Don't ask me how it happened because frankly, I don't really remember. All I remember is a pair of socks and talk about Peter looking like a duck.

After that, James became his usually chipper self, but he still kept the pranking at a minimum. It may or may not be due to me saying that I would break up with him if he did too many pranks. Anyways, after the rest of the Marauders had found out that we were going out, they had thrown us a huge party in the common room. It was embarrassing, but not as much when Dumbledore himself had come up to us the morning after and congratulated me on being with James. He had said something about how a big head only showed how big someone's heart was or some profound saying like that.

Again, I smiled when I reminisce this. Dumbledore was sure right about something. James heart was really big. Every day I was over during the summer, he had planned something different for us to do. I was glad because then, I didn't have to spend time at my house. I wondered if I had agreed to go out with him earlier, if he would be like this. Probably not.

"So, are either of you guys going to tell me what you are arguing about. I kind of what to know so than I can support someone," I said. Again, as if he couldn't be ashamed enough, James buried his head in his big, strong hands. I looked to Remus for an explanation.

Remus, laughing, turned to me to clarify my confusion. "Well, at the end of last year, I bet James that by the start of the school year this year, Alice Fortescue and Frank Longbottom would get engaged." At this, I gasped.

"But since you bet that they would and James had to give you money, that means..." I exclaimed, trailing off.

"Alice and Frank are engaged," Remus said with a playful smile on his lips.

"I can't believe that she didn't tell me!" Lily shrieked. "I'm one of her best friends. When did this happen? Did Frank ask her? When are they going to get married? Why didn't she tell me? How did you find out before me?"

"Hold on Lily," Remus replied. "Don't over-think this. I found out because Sirius and I had gone to Diagon Ally yesterday and saw her father and her younger brother, Florean, in their ice cream shop. Since I needed to find out if they had gotten engaged or not, I asked him. His response pretty much told me. As to your other questions, I'm not sure. She is_ your _best friend, after all."

I mentally hit myself on the head. Standing up, I said to them, "If you would be so kind as to excuse me, I need to go find my best friend and talk wedding details with her. And James," I said, turning toward him, "please try to be on time for the prefects meeting. It's at 12:00. Remus, if he isn't there, I'm blaming you too."

Remus nodded his head because James was still sitting in the corner, banging his head against the wall. Sighing, I turned to walk out of the compartment, when I found my path blocked by a tall body with a head full of shaggy, long black hair in its owner's eyes. Looking up, I saw that I was in the presences of the one Mr. Sirius Black. Or should I say Mr. Shag-me-'cause-I'm-the-Hogwarts-sex-god Black. God only knows who many girls he had been with.

"Excuse me," I said politely, not wanting to get into out usual arguments. I tried to squeezed past him, but found that his body had taken up the entire doorway. "Please move. I have some rather important business to attend to."

"Oh, don't mind me," he said in his raspy voice. "I just need to talk to James and Remus. You know, my best friends." With that, he moved aside and let me pass.

Once I stepped out into the corridor, I turned around to say something. I found that the door had been slammed in my face. Even thought I was James's girlfriend, Sirius still didn't give me the respect that I deserved. Huffing, I walked off to Alice's compartment.

* * *

**~So I hope this chapter is long enough. I know that it's way longer than the prologue. As I have said before, most of my chapters will be about 1,500 to 2,000 words. I try nnot to make my chapters longer than that becuase I find it gets really boring reading them in one siting. But, I will be updating freqently, so that's good. Please review this as well. It would mean a lot to me. I am having a great time writing this. Peace Out!~**


	3. Talk About a Wedding

**DISCLAIMER****: OWNING HARRY POTTER WOULD BE LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE. SADLY, I DON'T SEE MY DREAMS COMING TRUE ANYTIME SOON.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Talk About a Wedding**

"Alice Freda Fortescue, why in the name of Merlin's pants did you not tell me that you were engaged?" I shouted at my best friend as I opened the compartment that she was sitting in. All of the other conversations in compartment stopped. This gave me a moment to look around and see who was there. As usual, Alice was there with Hestia and Mary. Together, the both squealed. Apparently, Alice hadn't told many people.

"What?" Mary breathlessly asked when she was done squealing. "When did this happen? How did this happen? Did Frank kneel down to ask you? It was Frank, wasn't it? Of course it was Frank, that was a stupid question. You too have been going out since third year. Did he ask you on a beach or somewhere even more romantic? Or was it at..."

Alice held her hand up and sighed in defeat, obviously annoyed by Mary's many questions. "I didn't tell anyone. We wanted to keep it a secret."

Here, Hestia looked appalled, as if Alice had told her that Dumbledore was dating someone. "How could you have not told us? We are your best friends. You don't keep secrets from your best friends."

Again, Alice waved her hand, but this time to stop Hestia. "We would have told you. We just wanted to be able to tell our friends in person not owl," She explained. "Besides, we only just got engaged."

"Still, how did it happen? Now that we know, you can't spare us any details," I exclaimed, getting caught up in the excitement in the air. Indeed, the air in the compartment was overflowing with happiness and joy. Even in spite of the darkness of the world, there seemed to be happiness.

"Well," Alice started, "a week before we got our Hogwarts letter, Frank asked me to go to France for the week with him. My dad and mum, knowing Frank and trusting him, agreed to let me go. I had the best time ever. All of the sights were amazing and the food was simply heavenly.

"Then, on the night before we were going back home, he took me down to this little river. There, a little picnic was all set up for us. It was a simple gesture, yet it was so sweet at the same time. Anyways, after dinner, he magically got a violin and charmed it to start playing. He took my hand and we started to dance. Oh, I wish you could have been there. It was utmost perfection. When the song ended, he got down on one knee and took out a small black box."

Here, she paused for affect. All of us, including me who usually didn't like big romantic gestures, sighed with astonishment. No matter who you were, you would have to sigh at that too.

"Of course, I knew exactly what he was going to ask me after that," Alice continued. "But I didn't let him say a word. Instead, I leaned down and kissed him. After a while, we stopped, and I said yes. Frank was overjoyed, as if he had to worry about me saying no. Now, I can hardly wait until the summer."

"Why?" Mary asked. She was, after all, a dumb blonde.

"Because, Mary, that when she is going to have her wedding," I explained. As good a friend as she was, her smarts didn't go much beyond boys and hair care. She was a great help with getting ready for dates, dances, and parties, but after that, she was pretty useless in school. Not that it bothered me; she was one of my best friends after all.

"I have already talked to my dad and he said that it was fine if I asked you to be my Maid of Honor, Lily," Alice said, pointing at me. I, for one, was shocked. We were good friends and all, but I expected her to pick Hestia or Mary. They were more of her type of person.

"And I want you two," Alice commanded Hestia and Mary, "to be my bridesmaids. I am also going to ask my two older cousins, Penny and Hope, to be bridesmaids with you. I think that I can convince Riley, my younger cousin, to be our flower girl. My brother, even though he's ten, can be the ring bearer. This is going to be the perfect wedding."

"It is, Alice," I responded. "Are you going to be planning it while you are still in school? With N.E.W.T.S. coming up, I don't know how you will find time to plan a wedding. You will be spending every spare second studying."

Alice looked downcast for a second. I knew that she didn't have anyone to help her plan the wedding except for her father. Her mother had died the first year they had been at Hogwarts. Her father would try to help, but his ice cream business would keep him busy. Her brother will help her, but he was only ten years old. Alice didn't have anyone else to help her.

"Well," she began, "when Frank and I announced to our family, his mother, Augusta, looked excited. She said that she wanted to help me plan the wedding. I think that we are going to go over the broad plan at the first Hogsmeade trip. She has really been a help to me."

I was glad that Frank's mother wanted to help plan their wedding. My mother was excited when Petunia announced that she was going to marry that walrus named Vernon. I don't think that it was the person that my mum liked. She just wanted to plan a wedding. Her and dad's wedding had been small because they didn't have a lot of money. Now that we have a bit more, my mum is going all out planning Petunia's wedding. Her wedding was in a couple of weeks so when I left, my mum was going crazy with all the details. I think that when I get married, I won't go through all this extra stuff. For all I care, I could get married in a forest with just two witnesses.

For Alice, it was different. All her life she, her mum and her were talking about what would happen when she grew up. They talked about weddings and parties that they were going to have. The lost of her mother hit Alice hard, I think. For weeks after her death, Alice wouldn't talk to us. Only after we promised not to talk about what had happened would she even look at us.

"If you need any help, Alice, you know that you can always go to us. After all, if we are going to be your bridesmaid, we have to help you plan your wedding," Hestia said looking determined.

"Thanks, girls," Alice said thankfully.

"We also have to plan your stag party!" Mary squealed. The rest of us just ignored her and turned our attention back to Alice.

"This summer had just been hectic. I don't even want to think about next summer. I am glad that I have you to help me. Anyways," Alice stated, trying to change the subject, "am I the only one who will be getting married this summer?" We all looked at her blankly. Sighing at our blank looks, she exclaimed, "Lily, has James asked you to marry him yet?"

I blushed. How could anyone think that? Sure, James had been going after me since first year, but we have only been going out for a little more than three months. Was that enough time to ask someone to marry you? I didn't think so, but apparently, my friends do think so.

"We have been going out for less than four months," I started. Then, I was rudely interrupted.

"It has actually been four months and one day," Mary said. I just rolled my eyes. Leave it to Mary to spend more time worrying about how long me relationship with James than me. Actually, I was surprised that she could even do that much math. She wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Anyways," I said over Mary's talking, "I don't think that it has been a long enough time. Besides, I don't think that my mother would approve getting married right out of school. She would say that that is only what people who are pregnant do."

Alice gasped, looking horrified. "Is that what you think too? Do you think that I am pregnant so that is why I'm getting married?"

"No," I stuttered quickly, trying to clean up my mistake. "I don't think that you are pregn..." I stopped trying to explain myself when I saw that Mary, Alice, and Hestia were all laughing.

"Gee, thanks girls. Way to boost my self esteem." Then, looking at my watch, I said, "I have to go now."

Hestia jumped up and blocked the door. "But we didn't mean anything. You have to stay with us," she said.

I sighed and got up. "As much as I enjoy your company, I have a prefects meeting to go to," I replied. "I will look for you later. Save me a seat in the Great Hall if you don't see me before hand.

Slowly moving aside, Hestia got out of my way. "You bet we will. Now, go have an awesome meeting with your cute boyfriend. I won't expect you to come back for a while."

I giggled and left the compartment.

* * *

**~And this was a longer chapter. I hope that most of my chapter's will be that length. I will try to update this once every day for at least the next week or so. Then, I will be starting school and won't be able to. Still I will try to update at least once a week. If you have an idea about where this story should go, please tell me. I am open for suggestions. Please review this! It would mean a lot to me. I really like this story. Peace Out!~**


	4. During the Prefect's Meeting

**DISCLAIMER: HARRY POTTER DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. HE NEVER HAS AND NEVER WILL.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**During the Prefect Meeting**

"Now, could this meeting please come to order?" I shouted over the consent noise in the prefect's compartment. But, sadly, no one seemed to be listening to me. I sight, knowing that this is what is would be like for the rest of the year. Me, shouting. Everyone else, talking. The prefects these days just don't listen. And, just to my luck, my perfect boyfriend was nowhere to be found. Come to think of it, neither was Sev, I mean Snape, but that didn't mean anything. He was always late to meetings in our fifth and sixth year. He was probably hanging out with those Death Eater wannabes friends.

Thinking about my ex-best friend was hard. We had so many good memories together, but he had just wasted them. At times, Sev, I mean Snape, could be really sweet, but then, he would turn dark. He was the one who made my sister hate me. Not that I really like my sister anymore either, but still. He was to one who made that happen.

And he was one of the reasons why I didn't go out with James in the first place. Sev, I mean Snape, kept getting hexed by James and I hated it. Hated that James had to hex him to make him feel good about himself. Hated that he wouldn't even give Sev, I mean Snape, a chance to defend himself. But now, I didn't really mind. James's head had deflated a bit and he didn't hex Sev, I mean Snape, as much.

What killed me the most was that James was a good person and Sev, I mean Snape, wasn't. While James pranked and hexed people for fun, he could also be seen helping younger kids do homework. Snape, (finally got his name right) on the other hand, was all mean now. He used to at least try not to be mean when I was around. But, after he called me a you-know-what, he showed his true colors- allegiance to You-Know-Who. He used to be such a good friend when we were younger, but now, it is all washed away.

"Are you alright there, sweetie?" a voice came into my thoughts. Looking at the person startled, I saw that it was James. His lips were pressed right into my ear, kissing it slightly. I shivered when a cold force moved down my back. That was what james did to me. "Ready for the meeting?" he asked with his lips moving slightly away from my ear. I sighed. I forgot that I have a meeting to run.

"Oh, hi there," I quietly said. I just wasn't in the mood for his banter with me. Sadly, James didn't get the hint. He kept on talking about how much fun we were going to have this year. Smiling and nodded, we walked over to where the prefects were standing.

Interrupting him, I asked, "Shouldn't we get the meeting going. The longer we stay here, the less time we have away from here."

He nipped my nose. "That's my little Lily-petal." Then, tuning to the crowd, James yelled, "Oi! If all of you could go sit down, we can be out of here faster." Surprisingly, all the prefects seemed to obey him. I slumped down defeated. James, noticing this said, "What's wrong Lily?"

"It's just that when I said that, no one paid any attention to me. You make everything seem so easy," I complained looking up at my tall boyfriend.

Leaning down and smiling seductively, he whispered in my ear. "I'll listen to you all you want when we get out of here."

I blushed and looked away. Somewhere from within the compartment, someone coughed. I gingerly turned my head to look at that part of the room. There, I saw the most rude and vile person in the whole wide world sitting there. Megan Billsword. God and Merlin would only know how much I hated her. She was a seventh year, like me, and was my dorm mate. All my friends hated her as well.

"If you two could stop flirting with each other, I think you will find all of us ready to have the meeting," she said in her sweet and innocent tone. I almost snorted. Innocent my foot. That girl had a stickier background than a pot of glue.

Last year, the Head Boy and Girl found her and a boy riding each other in a broom closet. They stopped, looked at their intruders, and then continued. The sad thing was that the boy she was with wasn't even her boyfriend. Let's just say that after he found out, Megan found her sorry are dumped. Not that she cared; she already had a new boyfriend. Talk about you regular whore.

And that's not mentioning all the comments she yelled at me the years before. Mostly about how I couldn't get a stable boyfriend. Megan, on the other hand, was usually seen with a different boy each week, but she had eyes only for one. My boyfriend. Not that he would give her a time of day, but that still caused me many sleepless nights. Desperate girls would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. I guess that embarrassing us in the middle of our meeting was what she wanted to do right now.

But, pushing those thoughts aside, I nodded to James who didn't look at all embarrassed. He must be used to it with all the girls fawning over him all the time. So, without farther ado, James stared the meeting.

Surprisingly, he had it all planned out.

I was expecting to have to save his sorry arse when he didn't know what to do. Instead, he was the one leading the meeting. I tried to follow, but kept getting distracted by a glow outside the compartment. Every so often, the widows would light up like the night sky in the country-side. Sometimes pink or yellow, but other times green and red. I was getting really annoyed by that. It was no doubt some kid trying to be funny and not worry about getting caught because all the people in leadership positions were in a meeting.

Finally, I had enough. Poking James in his stomach, I pulled him down so that his ear was level with my lips. Whispering, I said, "I need to go check out what is happening outside. I'll be back in a jiff." James just gave me a slight nod and continued the meeting. Slipping out quietly, I followed the multi-color lights to their originator.

When the trail finally stopped, I was standing outside the compartment that James and his friends had been sitting in. I groaned inwardly. Leave it to my boyfriend's barmy friends to do something stupid like this. Opening the door, I was met by a whole different story. Inside, it wasn't all of James's stupid friends after all. There was only one of his most stupid friends. Sirius Black was there, sitting down, leaning against the back of the bench.

Half in and half out of the compartment, I asked, "Seriously? Before we even got to school you had to pull a prank?"

Sirius, grinning, looked up at me. "Of course I'm Sirius. I haven't changed my name since I last saw you."

I took all my patience not to smack him into next week then. To make matters worst, I had walked into that one. Most people had learned by now not to say serious in front of Sirius. I guess I was just a slow learner on that lesson.

"Why?" I simply asked him. "You knew that you were going to get caught. I would certainly give you a detention and would make James do the same."

"Well," he said sneeringly, "I didn't ask your opinion. And don't give me another reason to hate you."

I looked at him with surprise. I didn't know that he hated me. Sure, he had always seemed cool to me, but hate? Why would he hate me? For Merlin and Gods sake, his best friend was my freaking boyfriend. You think that he would have said something to me before now if he didn't like me. Maybe I'm just over thinking this. Sirius couldn't hate me. There was no way, but I hate to make sure.

"You hate me?" I asked quietly. "I never knew that."

Sirius, for his credit, didn't even try to deny it. He just shrugged. "I never really understood why Prongs was so uptight about you. You're not anything better than any other girl. Sure, you're a ginger and have good grades, but come on. Everyone knows that gingers don't have souls, and school is all you care about. And you aren't even that pretty."

What Sirius said right there shocked me. He really did hate me. I never knew that that was how I came across to him. I tried to get all of James's friends to like me, but it seemed that I missed one. Remus was already my friend, and you could buy Peter's affection with a box of sweets. It seemed like Sirius was just doomed to hate me no matter what I did. Holding my tears back, I ran out of the compartment and slammed the door shut. Trying to blink away my tears, I ran down the corridor and into another strongly fit body.

* * *

**~Thanks for reading this. I would really like some reviews. I still don't really know where I'm going with this story, so your thoughts count. As I have said before, this will be a long story, so you have plenty of time to review it. I would like it earlier, but as they say, better late than never. So, please review and help me write this. This is one of the shorter chapters, so they will be getting longer. Peace Out!~ **


	5. Friends annd Feelings

**DISCLAIMER: (PICKING OFF FLOWER PETALS) I OWN HARRY POTTER, I OWN HIM NOT, I OWN HARRY POTTER, I OWN HIM NOT. YOU GUESS WHICH ONE IS TRUE.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Friends and Feelings**

"Ouch," I yelped as I went tumbling down to the ground. "Watch where you're going!" I snapped at the person who I ran into. Of course I knew that it was my fault, but no guy should ever knock a girl down. Especially if she is emotionally inflicted.

In case you are wondering how I know it is a guy, it's because I know people. Girls, while they can be strong, don't have the same fitness as a guy had. Also, girls wear perfume while guys wouldn't be caught within twenty inches of that sweet smelling stuff. Guys, on the other hand, worked hard so that their bodies were lean and fit. They also tended to be taller than my wimpy five foot four body. On most girls, I was only a little bit smaller, but to guys, I was an ant.

Huffing, I tried to pick myself up from the ground. Sadly, I found that I couldn't. The boy that I crashed into was lying on top of my body. "Get off of me!" I exclaimed as I tried to put his body off of mine. Brushing my hair away from my face, I could see that it was Remus that I had run into.

Crying out, I said, "Oh, Remus, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that it was you."

"It's fine Lily." I could just barley hear make out the words that Remus formed in his mouth. Luckily, his face was just inches way from mine. If it was any farther away, I would have had a clue to what he just said. Again, I tried to escape from Remus' body grip but found that I could.

"Um, Remus? Could you get off of me? This probably looked really bad from the outside," I said tentatively to him. Remus, realizing how he was almost straddling his best friend's girlfriend, quickly made it a point to get off of me.

Once he was off, Remus put is hand out to mine. I took his hand most gracefully and thanked him. When I tried to pull away, though, Remus wouldn't let me. Pulling me closer, he looked deeply into my eyes. I froze, not knowing why he was doing this. After all, I was dating his best friends. Well, one of his best friends.I wasn't worry. It wasn't like he was going to kiss me or anything.

"Have you been crying?" Remus asked, still not letting go of my hand. I was shocked that he thought that. I was sure that I hadn't been crying before. Sure, I felt like Sirius' words stung, but I had fought back my tears.

"No," I said roughly, jerking my body away from his hands. "Why would you think that?"

Remus left me go but didn't step away. The concerned look on his face almost made me tell him why I looked like I had been crying, but I still didn't. If I told Remus what Sirius had said, then he would tell James. Then James would try to beat up Sirius for saying those words to me. It would look like I couldn't do anything for myself. One thing I didn't like was when my boyfriend would try to protect me. In the past, it was enough to make me break up with them.

"Sorry Remus, but I have to go," I said trying to think up an excuse to leave. I didn't want to talk to Remus anymore than I had to. I needed to go collect my thoughts to put on a better face for James at the prefects meeting. "I have to... go talk to Alice about her wedding. Sorry for running into you." With that, I rushed away, leaving a confused Remus behind.

I quickly went down to the end of the train to where my friends were sitting. Huffing, I sat down in the compartment and angrily opened a Chocolate Frog. Biting off its head, I glanced at my friends. All of them were just staring at me like I was the most interesting things in the world. "Don't you have something better to do than to look at me?" I exclaimed.

Alice slowly put her hand on my shoulder as if I was about to explode. "Are you okay, Lily? You seem tense," she wondered, looking alarmed at my body language.

"I'm fine," I told them. "Just leave me alone for a second." All the girls glanced at each other with worried expressions on their face. They seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes in an attempt to keep me out of the conversation. I sighed; sometimes my friends were so ignorant to their looks. "Really, girl. I just need to think alone for a minute." They shared a look again, but allowed me to sit in silence.

Settling down into my seat, I pondered what Sirius had said. He had blankly said that he hated me because he didn't know what James saw in me. He said that I was only smart and not even pretty. Sure, I don't think I'm as beautiful as some other girls at this school, but from the number of blokes that had asked me out, I think I'm above average. And James seemed to love my red hair, even if I did think it didn't look good next to my pale skin. James seemed to love everything about me.

Maybe Sirius was just jealous. After all, James had been after me since day one. Sirius was probably just tired of James talking nonstop about me. I know that it was annoying to me when James asked me out a dozen times per day. Maybe it was just as annoying to his best friends as it was to me. Remus never said anything about James and me when we were studying or on patrols. It was almost like Remus was two different people; one person with James and the Marauders and another person with me.

Thinking back to what Sirius had said, it seemed that he really didn't like the fact that I was going out with James. Before we went out, though, Sirius seemed to be fine with me. He would flirt with me as much as he would flirt with other girls and was okay when James would repeatedly ask me out. It wasn't like he actually liked me or anything. He never seemed to bitter about that.

But after we starting going out, Sirius did turn sour towards me. Whenever I came over to the Potter Manor, James would always turn his attention towards ravishing me. Sirius, as I looked closer at the summer, would often go ignored for the entire time I was over. It was no wonder the Sirius hated me. Of course he wanted the attention of his best friend. I promised myself that I would try to include Sirius in out plans more often now. Maybe I'll even talk to James about having him spend more time with Sirius. Hopefully, then Sirius wouldn't hate me.

Looking around the compartment, I saw that the girls were talking quietly to each other. There was no doubt in my mind that they were talking about me. I didn't want to tell them about what Sirius had said to me. It would worry them too much. I would much rather keep that information to myself. Maybe later I would tell them, but not now.

Standing up, Alice, Hestia, and Mary all turned to look at me. Their expressions were different. Alice looked guilty, as if she would a little kid caught with their hand in the cook jar. Hestia, on the other hand, looked as if they were doing nothing wrong. She was always their best actress in out small little group. Mary had turned her head and looked out the window when I had gazed at her. This made me certain that they were talking about me and my attitude towards them.

"Sorry about that, girls. I just had a bad meeting with someone," I explained to them, hoping that they would take it without a comment. While Hestia looked like she was going to protest, both Mary and Alice nudged her not to. This small act didn't go unnoticed by me. "I'll tell you about it later. Right now I have to go patrol the train. Or at least go talk to James about patrolling."

"That was one of the things we wanting to talk to you about, Lily," Hestia started. "We think that," she was stopped by a firm, but soft nudge by Alice.

"We'll talk to you later," said Alice, trying to keep control of the situation. "Maybe tonight at the sleepover?" I smile despite the impending conversation.

It was a tradition of ours to have a big sleepover the night we got to school. Since there were so many Gryffindor girls in our year, there were three dorm rooms. Alice and I slept in the same room with three other girls while Hestia and Mary slept in different rooms. So, instead of talking in one room and then going somewhere else to sleep, we always go to one of our dorms and kick the other girls living their out. Most of the other girls had their own sleepovers the same night, so it usually wasn't a problem. We would stay up all night; talking about our summers or anything else that struck our fancy.

I had a feeling that tonight's conversation would surround around me.

"Yeah, we should talk them. I'm looking forward to it," I said. "Who's room are we having it in?" I ask, wondering if I should offer the Head's dormitory.

"We have to have it in your room, Lily," Mary immediately said. "The Head dorms will be the biggest. And it's right off of the common room, so we won't have to go far."

This year, unlike the other years, the Head dorms were off of the Gryffindor common room. Usually, they would be halfway between the two Heads common room. This year, though, since both James and I were Gryffindor, the dorms would be off the common room. I was glad that I wouldn't have to run halfway across the castle to talk to my friends.

"That sound great," I replied. "I think James and I will be having a meeting with Dumbledore, but I will still be able to meet you. Just go ahead in." With that, I left my friends to go find my boyfriend.

* * *

**~Hello again. Thanks for reading and reviewing this. Don't worry about giving me bad ideas for the story. No ideas or bad ideas. Even if it's just a line that you want me to incorporate in one chapter, I will try my hardest to do so. Originally, I had this chapter going longer and you would get to see Lily go back to the Prefects meeting. But, then it was really long and I didn't really like it. I feel like the train ride s taking forever. If you'd like to see the prefects meeting, let me know. Otherwise, Lily and her crew will be at Hogwarts next chapter. Please review this. Peace Out!~ **


	6. Of Meetings and Advice

**DISCLAIMER: THIS STORY IS WRITTEN BY ME, NOT J.K. ROWLING. SHE OWNS HARRY POTTER AND I DON'T.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Of Meetings and Advice**

"James, slow down," I shouted down the corridor, trying to catch up to him. "I have to go to the meeting too!" It was after the opening feast in the Great Hall, and James and I were due in Dumbledore's office. Slowing his frantic run to a slow walk, James turned around and faced me.

"You are just too much fun to play with," my boyfriend commented, waiting for me to catch up to him. I quickened my pace to reach him. Shoving him slightly with my arm, I playfully ran ahead. James, not wanting to be beat, rushed forwards and grabbed my body. He wrapped his strong arms around my torso and spun me about. Leaning in, he whispered in my ear, "You little tease."

I giggled and replied by saying, "But you like me anyways." James laughed and put my down on the cement. He when in to tickle me, but I stopped him. "Come on, we need to go to the meeting. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall will be wondering where we are."

"Alright," his silken voice said into my ear. Then, he planted his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. I giggled again, all the bad feelings of earlier leaving me. I was with my boyfriend and no one could stop me. Sirius could go take a very long walk off a very short pier for all I cared. Though I promised myself to talk to James about spending more time with Sirius, I didn't need to just yet.

Making our way to the Headmaster's office, James and I engaged in light conversation about what happened after I left the Prefects meeting. Apparently, Megan Billsword had noticed that I left without any reason. She had tired to tell James that I was meeting my secret boyfriend. Megan then, more or less, told him that he should be glad that she was going to offer her services to him. Needless to say, Megan was now going to be serving a detention with McGonagall for spreading rumors around the school. By the time we made it to Dumbledore's office, I was in fits of laughter hearing about Megan.

Standing in front of the gargoyles, James clearly pronounced, "Redvines." The gargoyles sprang open, reviling an entrance. He gestured for me to go in first, so I opened the door to the Headmaster's office.

I had never been in there before and was immediately overwhelmed at the shear sight of things. It seemed as though Dumbledore had been collecting little trinkets and memorabilia for a while. On his bookshelves, there were immense loads of old looking books just eagerly waiting to be opened and read. On the opposite wall, the Headmaster had put statutes and nick-knacks. Behind his desk, the portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses were hanging in glory. I couldn't help but stare at all this wonder put before her. Realizing that James was standing behind me, I continued walking over to Dumbledore's desk.

"Ah, Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter. How lovely it is to see you," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. Professor McGonagall was nowhere in sight. "Would you care for a lemon drop?" Gingerly, James and I took one and put them in our mouths. The taste of lemons filled my mouth as I sat down in a seat before the Headmaster.

"First and foremost," Dumbledore said, "I would like to congratulate both of you on become Head Boy and Girl. It was not an easy task for some of you," Dumbledore said, his eyes turning towards James. "However, I do believe that you will both prove to be helpful this coming year. Do not let anyone talk down on you, and hold your own. I do believe that you will be able to do this."

After those profound words, James and I shared a look. I know that Voldemort was gaining power, but I didn't think that would put us in harms way at Hogwarts. Being a muggleborn, I had to be careful about who I was hanging out with these days. Last year, right before the start of summer, James had warned me about difficult times that were coming. I hated to think that they would come to Hogwarts. Hogwarts was always my second home and I didn't want it destroyed. I promised myself then that I would protect it to the best of my abilities.

"I do believe," Dumbledore was saying, "that you two will be must helpful to each other in the year to come. I do hope that you prove me right. Before I let you go frolic with your friends for the night, I would like to warn you. Dangerous times are ahead of us. Be careful and be aware about what you are saying and to whom you are saying it to. One could never be too careful. Just a thought," he concluded, standing up.

Of all the things he said, I was worried about the part of what you are saying to your friends. Did Dumbledore know something about my friends that I didn't know? Is one of them dangerous to me? Dark thoughts swirled my head as I began to image bad things that my friends could be doing.

Hestia could be spying on me for information about James while Mary was pretending to be dumb in order to get me to spill some secrets. Alice could have befriended me to gain my trust and was planning on betraying me to You-Know-Who. But then I stopped. I couldn't think that way. Hestia, Mary, and Alice had been my friends since first year. If I didn't trust my friends, who else could I talk to?

"Lily, you ready to go?" James quiet voice murmured in my ear. I sighed and nodded my head. Hestia, Mary, and Alice were my best friends. They would never betray me. Dumbledore must just be giving out a general warning to James and me. None of our friends would betray us. But, that being said, I will still watch what I say around them. One can never be too careful, as Dumbledore put it.

Walking back to the tower with James when without a hitch. Upon reaching the Fat Lady, James pulled me down into a deep, loving kiss. "You know," he spoke softly, nudging my ear with his nose, "I have wanted to do that all day." I sighed into him as he picked me up. Then, he suggested, "Maybe you could hang out in my part of the dorm tonight and we could watch a movie, among other stuff to do."

"As much as I would love to, James, I..." but I was cut off.

"You and Ms. Evans are not allowed to be in each other's room," Professor McGonagall said, causing us both to jump up into the air. Having missed the meeting in Dumbledore, she must have followed us to our dorms. "It is the same as in the regular dorms. All you have to share is the joint common room you have in your personal dorms. However, let it be known to you that I do keep a very close eye on the Head dorms and will not tolerate any nonsense going on."

"Don't worry, Professor," James smirked. "I'll keep this wildcat's hands to herself."

"Yes," Professor McGonagall wryly said. "That's what I'm afraid of." I blushed as I realized what she meant by her words. "Anyways," she spoke, "the entrance to your dorms is off to the right. There is another portrait there. The password is 'pumpkin juice.' Please, enjoy you night, but not with each other." She turned around and started to walk away. "Oh, and," she said, turning around to face us, "the pictures can be very helpful for both myself and you." James and I just looked at each other. After giving us her final warning, the Head of our House made her way across the corridor and disappeared.

"Well," James said as we entered the Gryffindor common room, "that was enlightening. Shall we go, my lady?" he than asked, holding his arm out to me. I giggle (I seem to be doing that a lot these days) and accepted his arm.

"Yes, my good sir. Let of retire for the night," I played along. But, before we could move one step, I was bombarded by people. Hestia, Mary, and Alice all crowed around me talking at all at once. "Quiet," I yelled over them. "I can't hear you at all."

"We don't know the password to your new dorm," Mary explained once the noise my friends were making had quieted. "We tried to get in there, but we couldn't."

"It's 'pumpkin juice," I said, "but." It was too late because the girl went flying to my dorm. I sighed and watched them go. Turning to James I explained what was going on. "We're having a sleepover in my dorm"

"Don't worry, Lily-petal," James replied, nipping my nose with his hand. "We can talk some other time."

Before I could say thank you, though, another person made a comment. "You better get used to that, James," Megan Billsword said, coming up to us. "That's all you're going to be getting from this girl now. It will either be, oh I'm hanging out with my friends, or, sorry James, I'm just so tired. You had better drop her while you can."

I was shocked at these words. And hurt. There was no way that I would ever cheat on my boyfriend. Megan may do that, but that's no how I roll. Besides, James is everything a girl could hope for in a bloke, so why would I have the urge to cheat on him?

I was about to give Megan a piece of my mind, but James hate beaten me to it. "How dare you even suggest that?" he snapped her. "Lily would never do such a thing. Now, you already had one detention. Would you like that have more?"

Megan gazed angrily at me, but said nothing more. Convinced that she wouldn't, James grabbed my arm and walked me over to our dorms. The portrait was of a mother and baby sitting together in a garden. Snarling out the password, James and I walked into the dorms.

* * *

**~And there's another chapter. I really enjoy writing these. After tomorrow, I will only be updating once a week. I will have a ton of school work that I will have to do. And that's not to mention what I'm doing outside of school. Anyways, as you can see, I decided just to have them go to Hogwarts. We got a little recap of the meeting. I didn't put the whole thing in because it was really boring. Anyways, please keep up with the reviews. They are awesome. Peace Out!~**


	7. Holy Shite!

**DISCLAIMER****: HARRY POTTER DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. WHY WOULD IT?**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**"Holy Shite!"**

"Holy shite!" I exclaimed as I walked into the Head dorm. James agreed with me, nodding his head up and down.

Inside our shared common room, there was a gigantic fireplace that a fire roared in to the right. Beside it, there was three couches, each colored red with a gold trim. Each couch had three throw pillows that had a picture of out house's crest on it. Over to the left, I saw four single seats that all surrounded a hardwood table with a golden lamp on it. In to opposite corners, there were signs that had the words 'Head Boy' or 'Head Girl' on them that led up to two different staircases.

The walls were colored in Gryffindor red with a design over the red colored in gold. Then I saw the four pictures that Professor McGonagall told us about. One had the same picture of the mother and baby that guarded our dorms. Another was a picture of a bowl of fruit in a wired basket. On the other wall, the third picture was of the Fat Lady that stood watch of the entire Gryffindor common room. The fourth picture was a depiction of what wizards though Godric Gryffindor looked like. I wonder what they all did.

All around the room there were laps spread out that would give us light whenever the fireplace was not burning. Right now, however, the lamps stood vacant, as if waiting for someone to turn them on. I was stunned at the sight of all of this. Never had I imagined the Head dorms would look like this. I could only wonder if my friends would ever leave after seeing this place. And I could only envision what my own personal dorm room would look like.

"Do you like it?" my boyfriend whispered to me.

"I love it!" I exclaimed. "This is better than I had ever pictured it would be. All the room and space is just maddening. Our friends will never leave once they see this place." James laughed and agreed with me. "Although," I said, "I don't get what the pictures are for. McGonagall said that they would be useful, but I don't get it."

"Is there something that I know that Lily Evans doesn't?" James asked in a shocked tone. Then, in a joking tone, he said, "Call this press this instant. This day will be known throughout history."

I couldn't help but grin at my boyfriend's playful manner. He could be such a child at times, but that's why I liked him. "Oh stop it," I commented, pushing him slightly with my arm. "You know more than one thing that I don't know."

"That is true," he replied, pulling me into his arms. "Anyways, I happen to know what these portraits are here for. Obviously, the mother and baby are here to tell us when there is someone at out door. The Fat Lady is there to let us know if there is someone at her real portrait that needed the password."

"Hold on," I stopped him. "What do you mean real portrait?"

"All the painting in this room are simply duplicates of their real ones."

"So, the Fat Lady can't talk to us unless there is someone outside the common room?" I asked, shaking my head in confusion.

"Precisely. Now onto the other pictures. The one with the fruit basket is an entrance to the kitchens. Don't ask me how I know, and I will tell you no lies. The supposed portrait of Godric Gryffindor is a replica of the entrance to McGonagall's office. That way, we will be able to contact her and she will be able to contact us. It also means that she will be able to get a full report on what we do in to common room."

I simply stared at him, speculating how he knew all this. Noticing me, he shrugged as if to answer my question. "My dad was Head Boy," he said. "He told me that it was the same in his dorm as well."

"So can Professor McGonagall hear us through her picture?" I wondered aloud.

James shook his head. "Naw, he will only tell her what were doing if it is against the code." Thank goodness. "If I am correct, I do believe that you have three girls in you dorm at this moment. I'd better let you go have fun at your sleepover."

"Alright," I sighed. "I'll see you in the morning. After a light kiss on the lips, I left James and went up to my dorm.

"Holy shite," I commented for the second time this evening. Upon entering my room, I saw that it was designed the same way as the common room, but smaller. There was a petite fireplace that already had a fire burning in it. Next to it was a desk with a single red chair with gold trim. It had a throw cushion on it as well that looked like the ones downstairs. On the opposite side of the fireplace, there was a couch that was a replica of the ones downstairs as well. On the couch there were three small white pillows.

On the walls, red paint had been put down with a sister patterned decorated with gold that looked like the Heads common room. I absolutely loved it. But my bed was by far the best. It was a gold canopy with red fringe hanging off of it. The bedspread was red with a lion design on it in gold. There were three pillows that were pallid on one side of the said bed. It was by far grander than what I was used to. Also, next to the couch a door stood as an entrance to the bathroom.

My friends had already occupied much of my room. Hestia and Mary were sitting in the couch with their backs against the pillows. Alice had chosen to sit on my new bed with her feet by my head pillows. "Get you feet of my pillows!" I shouted at her lightheartedly. "My head is going there!"

Alice quickly removed her feet and looked apologetic at me. Then she realized the Mary, Hestia, and I were laughing at her misfortune. Huffing, she put her feet back up by my pillows. "Just because I said that jokingly doesn't mean you should do it again," I commented as I stepped into the room and closed the door.

"Well, you can't make me, Ms. Head Girl," Alice shot back at me, crossing her arms in defiance. "What will you do, put my in detention?" She then turned her back on me was I walked over the Hestia and Mary. Taking one of the pillows, I walked over to my bed.

"Would you like to rethink that?" I asked sweetly at Alice's back. Without warning, I hurled the pillow at her back. Alice fell over onto her side as her feet lifted up. I quickly grabbed another pillow from my bed and threw it at her. Not wanting to be beat, Alice sat up and grabbed another pillow to chuck at me. Soon, Hestia and Mary joined in the pillow fight and pillows were flying everywhere.

Near the end of the fight, Hestia flung a pillow at me so hard that I toppled over and fell to the floor, hitting my head. Immediately, the fighting stopped and my friends were crouching over me. "Are you okay?" Hestia asked. In response to her question, I stole a pillow from Mary and tossed it at her head. Without waiting, I got to my feet and ran to the other side of the room for protection. Hestia dashed after me is pursuit.

At the end of the battle, my once beautiful and clean Head dorm stood in ruins. My bed was wrecked with the covers going ever which way and the pillows gone. The couch was on its side for it had been used for protection against the attacks. Next to the fire, my chair and desk were oddly placed in front of the fire. I realized that someone, a very smart person, must have put them there to prevent pillows being thrown into the hearth. What used to be a total of six pillows but were now dozens, laid strung across the floor. There were also feathers had had been in pillows that had broke. In all, it had been a very good pillow fight.

After finding our wands that had been spewed across the room, we set on tidying up the place. Mary set to work on fixing the bed as Hestia vanished the extra pillows using her wand. Alice moved the furniture to their proper places. I, on the other hand, emptied my trunk that had been put in the corner into the closet. Once we finished our jobs, we all fell back into my bed and laughed our feet off.

"So, that was a great way to start the evening," Mary commented while laughing.

"Yes it was," I agreed. Sitting up after that, I asked, "Where are you're things, girls? Aren't we having a sleepover?"

Alice explained that they had shrunken all that they had needed from the night and had thrown it all into one bag. "It's in your closet, Lily," she told me. "Should we get it out?"

I nodded. Alice went to get the bag, and I moved all the furniture away with a flick of my hand. After conjuring four sleeping bags, we changed into our sleepwear. I put on James's old Quidditch jersey and a pair of sweatpants. (For my birthday, James had given me his old jersey saying, "You'll probably wear it more than I do, now." He had outgrown if that past season and was getting a new one.)

"Lily, was that James's?" Mary asked me after seeing my shirt.

"It's his old one. He outgrew it and gave it to me for my birthday," I told my friend, missing the look that Hestia gave Alice. "I wear it to go to sleep most days."

"That's so sweet," Mary said getting into her sleeping bag. I got into mine too. Hestia and Alice sat down on their and turned to me.

Alice reached for my hand for a second, but than took it away, as if she thought better. "Lily," Hestia started out grayly, "we have something to talk to you about."

* * *

**~Sorry this wasn't the sleepover chapter that you were waiting for. I just got the idea of having a pillow fight in the Head dorms and couldn't get it out of my head. So, I hope you enjoyed it. Please review this because I feel like people aren't reading this. Also, this will be my last chapter until the next week. I start school tomorrow, so I will be busy. I hope you aren't bothered by all the James/Lily moments in this story. It's all part of the plot. Review please, it would make my day. Peace Out!~**


	8. Catfights

**DISCLAIMER: WHILE HARRY POTTER IS THE MOST WONDERFUL THING ON THIS PLANET, I STILL DON'T OWN IT. **

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Catfights**

"Lily," Hestia started out grayly, "we have something to talk to you about."

The room was silent for a second while I continued to look at Hestia. After she didn't speak for a while, I nudged her on. "So... what do you need to talk to me about? Don't tell me someone died or something morbid like that."

"Well, we, the girls and I, feel that you are spending too much time while James," Hestia said plainly like she was ripping a band aid off.

"That's not fair, girls," I protested while shaking my head. "It was the summer and I'm sure I wrote you letters."

"You wrote us each one letter, and that was at the beginning of summer," Alice butted in. "All it told us was that you were going to spend most of the summer at James's house with him and his parents. You didn't even tell us why."

I pondered what she said for a while. True, I thought that I had owled them more. There were many times that I had thought about it, but I must have just put it off. I guess I was too busy with James and all the activities he had planned. It was no wonder that my friends were feeling so left out.

"I'm super sorry," I defended myself to them all. "I meant to owl you a lot this summer, but time must have just gotten away from me. James kept me so busy and I just forgot." With my eyes, I silently pleaded for them to understand and forgive me. After all, it was an honest mistake.

While Mary seemed to have forgiven me, Alice and Hestia weren't too sure. I sighed to myself, knowing that they would be hard to convince to forgive me for my behavior. "Please, girls. I really just forgot."

Alice and Hestia exchanged looks. "It's not just that, Lily," Hestia explained to me. "Even before the summer, you were spending all your time with James and his friends. For the last month of school, all you seemed to think about was James and what he was doing. I'm surprised you actually passed exams."

"You're being unfair," I practically shouted at them. Who were they to tell me that I was ignoring them because I had a new boyfriend? They had done that plenty if times to me. "I have just gone from hating James to..."

"Loving him, we know," Alice cut in smoothly.

"I don't love him," I insisted. "I only strongly like him. Love is a big word."

Again, Alice and Hestia exchanged glances. "Sure Lily," Alice said, "whatever you say. But that doesn't change the fact that you were ignoring us."

"And how many times have you done that to me?" I ask airily. "When you, Alice, and Frank started going out, Hestia, Mary, and I scarcely saw you for the first month or so. And Hestia," I said, turning to face her, "when you and you're boyfriends started going out, no matter who they were, the rest of us never saw you for the rest of the week. Why am I so much different? It wasn't my fault that it was summer and I couldn't talk to you everyday."

At the end of my little speech, Alice had a tiny bit of pink in her cheeks while Hestia's face was red. Alice was embarrassed while Hestia was mad. It was hardly surprising because Hestia had a wicked temper. Once you got her going, nothing could stop her.

"That doesn't matter now. The point is, you're spending too much time with James and his friends. Why can't you and James spend time with us?" Hestia's words cut into me like a knife. It was surprising that both James's friends and mine thought that we were spending too much time with each other. It seemed like James and I were the ringleaders of our groups of friends that loved us and didn't want to share us with anyone.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself. "Hestia, a lot happened over the summer, and I just happened to spend a lot of time with James. Why should that be a big deal to you?"

"Because," she shouted at me, finally losing her cool, "we're your best friends, not James and the Marauders! You should have spent time with us during the summer! Not spend every bloody second with the Marauders!"

"They're my friends too!" I shouted back at her. I wasn't going to try and calm her down. If it was a fight she wanted, than it was a fight she was going to get. "Why can I not be friends with more than three people? Does my boyfriend have to ignore his friends and hang out with mine instead? That just seems unfair!"

"Well life isn't fair!" Hestia fought back. "Not all of us come from a spoiled home like you're where your parents love you to pieces! Maybe you should try to see what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes for a change."

By this time, I had gotten up and out of my sleeping bag. I was standing nose to nose with Hestia,who had also stood up, yelling at her. "You don't think my life is hard? Try having your only sister that you love tell you that you're a freak and to get out of her face. Try having your best friend call you the worst name imaginable to your face and them asking you for forgiveness. Try having to keep you family safe from Death Eaters that are trying to kill you because you're a witch. Don't every say that me life isn't hard because believe me, it is."

We were both silent for a while, staring into each other's faces. Slowly, Alice got up and stepped in between us. "Let it go, Lily, Hestia. Just let it go."

I was the first to sit down again and was followed by Alice. Mary had remained sitting the whole time, watching Hestia and I explode at each other. Finally, Hestia sat down. "Sorry, Lily," She said quietly. "I lost my temper. I know you're life is hard, and I'm sorry for blowing up on you."

"It's okay," I said stiffly, not really forgiving her all the way. She had hurt me with her words and I didn't think I'd forgive her in a while. Maybe this was what Dumbledore meant by watching your friends.

"It's just that I feel like you're forgetting us. It's like we're losing you to the Marauders."

Taking her hand into mine, I said, "Hestia Jones, I will never stop being you friend. You, Alice, and Mary mean the world to me. I wouldn't trade you for anything." I turned out to face Mary and Alice now as well as Hestia. "You girls are my sisters, my family. No boy will ever come between us. I won't let it happen."

"So you'll stop seeing James?" Mary wondered aloud.

I hesitated. No, I still wanted to see James a lot and the other Marauders. Remus and I have a close friendship and Peter was little a little brother to me. Sirius, well, Sirius I could live with as long as I as with James. After spending so much time hating James, I wanted to spend time doing the opposite as well. So no, James was still going to be a big part of my life.

But the girls meant something to me too. After all, they were the ones that were with me every time James was acting like an idiot. They were the ones that covered my back when I was in trouble. At any part of the day, they were there for me, even if I wanted to be alone. So I didn't want to cut them out of my life either. I would have to balance them equally.

"No," I slowly said, "I'm not going to stop dating James. He really means a lot to me. But, I will make it a point to spend time with you girls as well. I feel that James and I aren't going to be spending as much time together this year as we did this summer. He had friends too, you know."

"Thanks Lily," Hestia said, pulling me into a one-shoulder hug. "That's all we ask of you. We weren't asking you to break up; Merlin knows how James would take that."

"I know, especially after all the time he spent pining after me for all those years. He would be heartbroken," I agreed. The last thing I wanted to do was break up with James. He had done so much for me this summer.

"Then what's this I hear about you cheating on him with one of the other Marauders?" Alice asked with a sly grin.

"What?" I shouted at her. "I would never do that. I love, er, like James to much to do that. And the other Marauders wouldn't do that to James either. Who do you hear this from? Was it from Megan Billsword? I bet it was. I really hate that girl. Now everyone is going to think that I'm cheating on James when I'm not."

All my friends were laughing what I stopped my rant. "Lily," Alice said between her laughs, "we didn't hear anything. I just wanted to see what you would say."

"You are all so cruel," I muttered, my checks turning crimson from embarrassment. "I should have known better."

"But what's this about Megan?" Mary asked, the gossiping side of her taking over. "And why would she want to spread a rumor about you?"

"She wants to get together with James, right?" Hestia asked me bluntly. Surprised, I shook my head yes. "I'm not surprised. She had been secretly trying to get in James's company for over a year now. I guess that now that's he's dating you, she has made those feelings known to everyone."

"Oh, Lily," Alice cried, scared for me. "Are you afraid that James is going to cheat on you with her? She is really beautiful."

"Of course not," I exclaimed. "James would never do that. Besides, he gave her a detention when she tried to flirt with him and accuse me of cheating on him."

"So that's why you were frightened at Alice's comment," Mary exclaimed, finally getting it. We all just shook our head yes with a laugh. "So Megan isn't a problem?"

I sat on this question. No, she wasn't really a problem or threat. She was just annoying. The only people that heard her going on and on about me were prefects, and they wouldn't tell anyone. Plus, James shot down the rumor fast. But, Megan could potentially turn into a threat. I knew what desperate girls did to try to win a guy. Though I knew James would never cheat on me intentionally, who knows what tricks Megan has up her sleeve.

"Not yet," I told my friends, but she could be. We just have to watch her carefully from now on. You got it?"

"Okay, we'll keep an eye out," Mary agreed, "but later. I'm tired and want to go to bed. We have classes tomorrow, remember?"

"We will have to be up early for those," Alice agreed. "I'm going to turn off the lights now." Getting into our sleeping bags, I couldn't help but wonder what the year had in store for us.

* * *

**~So that was a sappy ending, but the chapter was getting way too long. I hope you enjoyed it. I loved reading all the reviews you all have given me. Remember that if you have anything you want to see happen, feel free to tell me. I am open to ideas. Well, please review this and I hope you have a good rest of the summer while I'm in school. Peace Out!~ **


End file.
